To put VERY low offer on house?

[HopingForSomeLuck]

Seen a house we really like - great location, good size! It needs a lot of work (though all cosmetic - new carpets,paint throughout, new kitchen...)

It's advertised as POA (price on asking? Price on arrangement?) Though I expect they r looking for around 520k AT LEAST.

We can only afford 420k

AIBU to view it and offer 420 on the off chance of a miracle?

Or is that just rude and insulting?

I would go for it. The U.K. housing market is shit at the moment, so worth a punt.

Low offers are fine if you're offering all you have, why not? The objection is to people who put in very low offers thinking they can progressively offer more later. Many buyers don't want to horse trade back and forth for weeks and multiple offers outside a reasonable range will get you written off as someone to avoid.

Have you viewed this house? If so, did the asking price not come up in conversation with the estate agent when booking the appointment/ viewing the property?

We offered 519k on a 625k house and got it six years ago. Turns out there were 12 beneficiaries so the amount each were getting wasn't affected too much, and the sellers really liked us as they wanted a young family to buy it and not a developer. We've done so much work to it and extended and it's now doubled in value, so I do feel a tad guilty, but it was all we could afford at the time and we've poured so much love into it, we're never moving!
Good luck!

If does sound like you can’t really afford it - not just the purchase price but I’m not convinced it only needs cosmetic work. Our house needs cosmetic work (last owner had it 40 years) plus a lot of underlying utilities and minor structural work. None of this kind of thing can really wait, and that part of the project is costing us around £40k (all new water and heating system including supply pipe, all new electrics, some structural work). Then another £40-£50k on kitchen/bathrooms/redecorating

Nothing to lose, everything to gain.

I do wish people wouldn’t post such basic advice. The OP has nowhere near the budget necessary to both buy AND renovate the house. Yes, she might get it for the much lower price - but that’s no good if she needs to spend tens of thousands more. She could be stuck with a house she can’t comfortably live in and has to sell at a loss, having lost her legal fees, survey costs etc. ‘Nothing to lose’? Don’t be so sure.

If the offer is too low, you may find the EA refuse to put it forward, as we had that at some point

This is unlawful, the agent is an actual agent in the eyes of the law and is therefore legally obliged to put all offers to the vendor.

Although the vendor can specify ‘Reject any offers below £x on my behalf’.

How has no-one asked for a link to the house yet? Show us the house!

Surely with POA you just phone up and ask the price. How does that drive up offers? Once you know the price it's no different to any other house on the market and everyone making offers knows the price.

Whenever you’re worried about putting in a cheeky offer, bear in mind how cheeky the asking price in all likelihood is.

While I would never bother with a house on which I felt the need to "make an offer" all you can really do is to ask the estate agent what the POA is. If it is as you think then I very much doubt at this stage of the game/listing whether they would accept £100k. As another poster says they will tell you to f off.

If there is any hope you then really need to get a survey done and get a professional opinion as to whether there is much work to be done and what the real value is. Then make an offer of the surveyor's assessment less 50% cost of the work.

If you need a mortgage the mortgage company will have a view as to the value as well and - if it is stated too high - simply will not lend.

@HopingForSomeLuck

I do wish people wouldn’t post such basic advice. The OP has nowhere near the budget necessary to both buy AND renovate the house. Yes, she might get it for the much lower price - but that’s no good if she needs to spend tens of thousands more.

It depends on her long-term plans - not everybody wants to move into a show home and some people are planning long term, and happy to live in a very dated house for years, doing a bit at a time every year. It seems less common these days, when everybody seem to want a brand new grey kitchen and bathroom from day 1, but it still work for some others.

I am a conveyancer. I am stupidly busy at the moment, over the last 6 weeks or so the new matters have been flooding in. We are now getting a bit worried about the amount of work we will be doing once they all get going. More fall through than in previous years but only a fairly small percentage of matters overall.

I know Brexit is meant to be holding buyers back but it seems, on the south coast at least, that people are giving up delaying their moves.

I do wish people wouldn’t post such basic advice. The OP has nowhere near the budget necessary to both buy AND renovate the house

I wish that people would read properly @StillCoughingandLaughing. I pointed out that the OP should be careful about leaving herself short for renovations. But how do you know they don’t have £420k cash now, and will need to wait to sell £100k of assets to fund the renovations?

If I’d taken the advice I got on this forum the other day with my house purchase, it would have cost me £30kish. So ultimately, the OP is the only one that’s in a position to make the decision

Also, renovating is not a necessity. I bought a house i havent renovated in 6 years. I may be in a position to renovate it now but i shouldnt not have bought it because i couldnt afford to immediately renovate it 😯🤔

Yes YABU. The only way that this wouldn't be rude but be to say how much you're willing to offer before arranging a viewing- that way they can choose not to show your around (tidy, clean, clear their diary of other commitments for the day etc.) if they wish

• would be, not 'but be'

I would do it, you see over priced houses on Rightmove that literally don't shift for years.

House prices are heading down right now.

POA (price on application) when we were looking meant overpriced and little interest. They sat on the market for months/years.

People can decide for themselves if they can live in an unrenovated house or not. Nobody needs a conveyancer to make that decision for them!!

When we sold our mum's house in the same condition (much less valuable), we had a few CFs with low offers. Luckily one of my siblings is more experienced at handling property sales so we rejected them until a more reasonable offer was submitted. We weren't in a chain. We could wait.

The only way that this wouldn't be rude but be to say how much you're willing to offer before arranging a viewing-

but you can't know how much you are willing to offer until you see the house

we had a few CFs with low offers.
they are not CF - it's a business transaction, the house is only ever worth what someone is willing to offer. You don't like the price, you decline. No drama.

The CF are the ones who, after agreeing price & various conditions, change their mind or try to renegotiate when they think it's too late for you to argue.

A friend of mine was selling her mother's house, to fund the mother's care home fees.
She accepted the first offer she got, as all bar the first £16,000 (I think it was) would go straight to the care home so there was no point holding out for a higher offer.
It can happen.